Selectively fluorinated aromatic compounds having a carbon-fluorine (C—F) bond are often biologically active and can be used as active components of many drugs and agrochemicals. A common strategy for the formation of these C—F bonds is through nucleophilic aromatic substitution by replacing an aryl-X bond, where X is, for example, Cl, Br, or NO2. Recent methodologies have demonstrated that phenols and their derivatives—where X is, for example, OH or trifluoromethanesulfonate—can be used, although expensive reagents are required.
An improved method for fluorinating aromatic compounds is desired.